My True Love Guild to Me - 8th Day Quiz

Answer: Brigid

Brigid is the patron saint of poets, dairymaids, blacksmiths, healers, cattle, fugitives, Irish nuns, midwives, and new-born babies. She is highly venerated in Alsace, Flanders, and Portugal, as well as in Ireland and Chester, England. There is also a patron saint of farmers. Saint Isidore the Labourer was also known as Isidore the Farmer.

He was a Spanish labourer who was kind to the poor and animals. He is also the patron saint of Madrid. Interestingly, another Spanish saint, St. Isidore of Seville, is the author of "Etymologiae".

The twelfth volume of "Etymologiae" is one of the bestiaries of the Middle Ages on which symbolism for the 12 Days of Christmas gifts is constructed.

Answer: Charles VII

Joan was a peasant girl, born in France in 1412. She is also a national heroine in France. She led the French armies to several victories during the Hundred Year War.

Answer: Cinder maid

A scullery maid was the lowest-ranking of the female servants. She would do demanding tasks in the kitchen such as cleaning the stoves and the floors. Before central heating was invented, she would have been expected to light the fires and bring hot water to her employers. A male servant who performed the duties of a scullery maid was called a scullion.

Answer: Forsythia

There are about eleven species of forsythia and the lactose is found in the pollen (anthers) of the flower. They are popular early spring flowering shrubs. The flower is named after William Forsyth, a Scottish botanist of the 18th century.

Answer: Annatto

Annatto is used to produce a red food colouring and also as a flavouring. It is commonly found in Latin American and Caribbean cuisines.

Answer: Last Sunday before Advent

Christmas pudding is a suet pudding with dried fruit and nuts. To serve, the pudding is reheated by steaming once more, and dressed with warm brandy which is set alight. The pudding is traditionally topped off with a sprig of holly.

Answer: Red

The structure of the eye of a cow allows it to see a small range of colours; but it also makes the cow colour-blind so that it cannot recognize the colour red. Did you also know that the Holstein produces the most milk of all breeds? A Holstein cow's spots are like a fingerprint or a snowflake; no two cows have exactly the same pattern of spots.

Answer: Counting the rings on its horns

The rings of a cow's horn form at the base of the horn where it meets the skull. Because of seasonal changes in diet (or calving for females), there is a noticeable ring formed on the horn from year to year. Surprisingly, a bull shows its age better than a heifer does.

The male horn does not form rings until the fifth year, while a female's first rings appear at age three (and make her, at age six, look "older" than her male counterpart). That's just not fair! Although somewhat indelicate, the following information is also interesting. Did you also know that the methane gas released by cows' burping and farting is said to be one of the leading causes of holes in the ozone layer? The world's cows produce about 100 million tons of it every year.

Answer: Haggis

First-Footing, in the north and Scotland, is the first person who crosses the threshold after midnight at the end of New Year's Eve (in other words, the first person to enter the house on New Year's Day). A gift of coal signifies "warmth"; shortbread symbolizes "a full cupboard of food" and whisky is given to the host as a drink.

Answer: Oxygen

There are eight musicians in an octet or a double quartet. There are eight pawns in the game of chess, which is played on an 8 x 8 board.